Snow Angels
by invisiblemirage
Summary: One shot. Set before the films. All Pepper wanted was to get away for a weekend, but a snowstorm had other plans. Features drunk!Pepper and playboy!Tony. T for language and suggestive themes.


Part of being a billionaire meant Tony could do whatever he felt like, and he liked that. If he wanted to go out and party until the dawn broke, he could. If he wanted to fly to Italy for brunch, he could. If he wanted to sneak away for a weekend and ignore the ever bright limelight, well, it was harder, but he could do it.

Such was that weekend.

Tony had wanted nothing more than a little weekend away. He had given Pepper the weekend off as well, to do as she liked. He figured she could use it. She did work hard, after all. The woman was practically an extension of himself, and she knew it. She had been aching for some time off as well, but hadn't asked her boss mostly because lately, she had been finding him more and more tolerable. It was as if he had transformed more than just his mind on his last week away. Of course, he was still the same old egotistical maniac with a new woman on his arm every hour it seemed. That bothered her more than she'd care to admit. Honestly, she had decided her tolerance of him was due to the fact that she no longer gave his obnoxious ways as much thought. He was much easier to get along with when she ignored his more prominent traits, hard as that may be.

But, with his trip to the deserts across an ocean in two or three weeks- Tony couldn't be bothered to remember which- all he had wanted was to 'kick back in the mountains, bang a few snow babes, raise a little hell,' as he had so classily described it to Pepper two days before his trip. She had been grateful he had given her the weekend off. He had left on Thursday, and she wasn't off until the end of her half day on Friday, but she had plans of her own. Her favorite cousin, Lindsey, lived in the Midwest, and Pepper was going to take a flight and spend the weekend with her. She marveled at Tony's ability to take off and spend money so easily. He was taking the trip away now, and then headed to Vegas or Ocean City or some other god-awful place before his trip to reveal the Jericho. Pepper sighed. Such were the ways of the rich, it seemed.

An hour later, noon struck. Her papers were packed up, and she picked up her luggage at home, ready to fly out to Montana. As she sat in the airport, she fiddled with her gloves, ready and excited to finally get some quality time with her cousin for the first time in almost three years.

Already settled in his lodge, Tony had found the only casino-type area they had to offer. He had a girl hanging on each arm, and couldn't tell anyone what time it was for his life. He was drunk and happy, ready for the night ahead with either or both of his girls- he didn't care which. Tony Stark was having his kind of vacation. He raised his glass for a refill of his Scotch and gulped it down, ready for more right away. He was having the time of his life. Girls were all too pleased to have a moment with the great Tony Stark of Stark Industries, even if he did no more than smile at them. The innocent mountain girls had never met a man like him, and he knew just how to play them. He had only been there a day and a half, but had already gotten to know several of them. He was leaving a trail of broken hearts wherever he went, enjoying every second.

He woke up the next day to an empty bed and a loud slam. The note beside him on the table read, "So much for being the only one, huh? Thanks for telling me you slept with my sister!" No name was scrawled beneath the rushed writing, but Tony didn't care. He'd doubt he would have remembered the face, anyway. He chuckled and rolled over, pulling the covers back up to his chin before settling back to go to sleep. He caught sight of last night's bra still dangling on the fan. Or had that been the girl before her? He didn't really care. His bed was warm and comfortable, and it suited everything he needed at that time. Tony wriggled back beneath the blankets, letting sleep claim him once again.

Another slam. Somewhat quieter, but still loud. Tony groaned. "You can keep your bra just let me sleep!" He was answered with an angry mutter. A very familiar angry mutter.

Tony sat up, the covers falling to his waist. "Pepper?"

"Yup. In the flesh." she hissed, shaking snow from her coat. The fat clumps melted into little pools by the fire place. She hung her coat up on the hook and plopped into the arm chair by the fire, shivering with cold.

Tony rubbed his face, not quite believing what he was seeing. "But I wanted to be alone this weekend."

"We can't all get what we want, Tony." Pepper snapped, pulling off her shoes. "Some of us only wanted a weekend in Montana and that same some of us got pushed out here by a snowstorm and had to make an emergency landing."

"But, here…" Tony stammered. "Why are you here… in my cabin?" He asked groggily, his voice still thick with sleep.

"Because once every one heard the famous Tony Stark was here, everything was booked. Shocker." she rolled her eyes. "You're supposed to be a genius, right? Put two and two together for once in your life."

"Are you drunk?"

"Never. Just pissed."

"You're drunk." Tony said with certainty, sliding back under the covers.

"Damn it Tony, I am not drunk." Pepper insisted, placing a hand on her hip.

"Yes, you are." Tony smirked. "You never talk to me like that when you're sober. You never swear when you're sober, either. You gave yourself away, sweetheart."

"Ass."

"Drunky drunk drunk." Tony replied in a singsong voice, laughing a bit to himself. "Drunk Pepper."

"Jerk." Pepper moaned, curling up in the recliner. "You're mean."

"You deserve it," Tony mumbled. "You're drunk at ten in the morning."

Pepper stared at him. "You're an idiot."

"Nope, you just said I was a genius. Your argument is invalid."

"It's ten at night, genius." Her tone was overly sarcastic, her vowels a little too drawn out. She knew she was a little drunk, and she couldn't have cared less. That had been better than letting herself stay mad about the emergency landing and flight cancellation. Pepper previously had never solved her problems with alcohol. She knew it was a bit out of character for her. But, she had been overly stressed lately, and the disappointment of not seeing Lindsey had crushed her. One drink on the plane had lead to another, which had lead to two at dinner, and another on the cab ride to the cabin, well, until the roads had become too thick with snow to travel, and then one more to keep her warm on the walk to Tony's cabin. She was just angry he could tell so easily. Usually, that was her job. She huffed and crossed her arms.

"Oh? It's party time. Get dressed. We're going out." He pushed the covers off of himself.

Pepper gasped and covered her eyes. "Wouldyoupleaseputsomemotherf -"

Tony broke out laughing. "Oh my god, how much did you have?" He opened his drawer and pulled out a pair of jeans. "I didn't think nudity bothered you, not after that one time in Hawaii-"

"Tony, that was one mistake, let's move on!" She hated that he still remembered that. The one vacation fling she had ever had, and Tony just happened to walk into her hotel room while she was waiting for him. The date had then arrived and thought Tony and Pepper were married, and bolted in fear of Tony killing him. Pepper had let it go, but apparently, Tony never would.

Tony zipped up a sweatshirt over his Aerosmith shirt. "Come on. Party time. Let's go put your drunkenness to good use. How are you at beer pong?"

"Ew." Pepper stood up defiantly, blocking his way. He tried to sidestep her, but to no avail. "You're not going anywhere, mister."

"For a drunk, you're a pretty big buzz kill." he scoffed.

"For a drunk, you're a pretty big buzz kill," she mocked. "There's like, three feet of snow out there. I had to walk in it, I should know. They closed everything. There's nowhere to go."

"Crap." Tony moaned. "Are you sure? The casino-"

"Is closed." Pepper said firmly. Her head was beginning to hurt. She ignored that, choosing to focus on Tony instead.

"Crap." he said again. "I didn't bring anything else to do."

"There's a few board games," Pepper suggested. "Or we could sleep. I like sleep. I trudged six miles in the ice cold snow. I deserve sleep."

"Great for you. I'm going to be up all night with nothing to do. Unless…" he raised a brow. "How drunk are you?"

"NO." Pepper bit back some more colorful language. "What were you thinking?!"

"I'm thinking I'm bored and you're drunk."

"Can we move past that?1" Pepper hissed. "I swear to God, Tony, you are such a f-"

"Okay, stop." he put a hand on her shoulder. "This is so unlike you, it's sickening. I'll tell you what. Pick one thing you'd really like to do, and then we'll do it, and you can go to sleep. Okay?"

"I want to take a damn-" she stopped herself, irritated at her inability to not sound like a sailor. "A shower. I smell like airport."

Tony's jaw dropped open. He wasn't expecting that. "Well, who am I to stop you from being clean?" he asked as he began to undo his belt buckle.

Pepper's fingers clasped hard around said belt buckle, her steely gaze not leaving Tony's eyes. "Alone."

Tony sighed. "Fine. Pick something else we can do together."

Her gaze drifted to the window. The light from the bulb above the door was still on, casting a golden glow over the fresh snow. It was simply beautiful. The flakes had a kind of magic to them, like Christmas, but not, since Christmas wouldn't be coming for a while. A slow, happy smile spread on Pepper's face, the first she'd had since the emergency landing.

"I want to make snow angels, Tony."

"Pepper, you're being ridiculous. I'm not making a snow angel. I'm Tony Stark. Tony Stark doesn't make snow angels, he explodes them. Don't look at me like that."

Pepper snickered. "You're talking about yourself in third person. He, he. Tony Stark this. Tony Stark that. You're so funny, Tony."

Tony gave her an expressionless face as he turned back to the bed, intending to sit to remove his shoes. "I'm going back to bed."

"Tony!" Pepper complained. "You said we would do what I want. We always do what you want, so come on, you ass butt!"

"You're really hammered." Tony made a face. "Snow angels? Seriously?"

"It's fun." she insisted.

"No."

"And to think I thought you were actually a bit more tolerable." Pepper slumped against the wall. Her back hit the switch, activating the ceiling fan. The blades swung slowly, then picked up speed, causing the left behind bra to spin off and smack Pepper in the face. "Oh, gross!" she said, flinging it into the fire.

Tony cracked up. "What's the matter, Pepper? You don't like free lingerie?"

"Jerk." She sat down hard in the chair. "I need another drink."

"Oh, no you don't." Tony said, stepping in front of the mini fridge just in case it occurred to her that his fridge was stocked with alcohol of very variety. "You've had enough."

Pepper wasn't listening. Her thoughts were no longer centered on the mini fridge. She opened the door, staring into the night. "I'm going out side!"

"Pepper! Shut the damn door, it's freezing!"

"I'm going out-"

"Get in here!"

The only response Tony got was a door shutting in his face. "You're going to freeze your- whatever," he shrugged. "Let her get her own mistakes."

"Tony!"

"What?"

"Tony get outside! You didn't come on vacation just to sleep, did you?" Pepper grinned, balling up a snowball. She winced. "Toss me my gloves!"

"Where are they?"

"Coat pocket."

He tossed her the pair of sleek black gloves. "There."

"Thank youuu!"

Tony turned to walk back inside and shut the door when a cold, hard ball of ice hit him hard in the small of his back.

"Gotcha!" Pepper's voice rang out.

"Okay." Tony bent down and balled up a bit of snow. The cold stung his hands, but he hardly noticed as a wicked grin crossed his face. "You woke up the giant." He hit Pepper on the chest, his snowball leaving a very stunned look on her face. "Didn't think I'd do that, did ya?"

Another snow ball landed in Tony's mouth. "Hey!"

"That's what you get for talking too much!" Pepper teased, giggling.

"It's on!" Tony grinned. He fired a few more at her and ducked as she retaliated. The snow flew between them faster than it was falling from the sky. He managed to hit Pepper with a few good ones, and she did the same to him.

The quiet cabin yard began to look like a war zone, snowballs flying like missiles. Pepper yelped as one hit her in the neck and aimed one at Tony's stomach in response. He dodged that, but got hit by her second ball of retaliation.

"Hey!" he protested. Tony aimed one at her back as she gathered more snow, pleased at himself for once again nailing his target. Pepper got his shoulder, leaving a clump of white snow on his black clothes. Tony found a bucket that had been collecting snow throughout the storm and turned it upside down, emptying the contents on her head.

"Tony!" Pepper screamed. She ran at him, hands full of snow, yanking the collar of his shirt away from his body and shoving it into his clothes.

"Holy crap!" Tony shrieked, followed by a long stream of curses. "Mother of-" He shuddered. "That was freezing!"

"Yup!" Pepper laughed.

"You're a mean drunk."

"And damn proud of it!"

Tony threw himself at Pepper who screamed and ran for cover. He caught up with her but tripped, accidentally pushing her into the snow as well. The two rolled for several feet, with Tony landing on top of Pepper. Their bodies were pressed together in the snow, and they stared at each other for a few awkward moments.

"This is interesting."

"Get off me."

"But, you're so warm and comfy."

"Off, Stark."

Pepper shoved Tony onto his back in his own snowdrift. The two laid side by side, the falling flakes sticking to their eyelashes as they caught their breath.

"Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm cold."

"Me, too."

"But we can't go in." Pepper insisted. "Not yet."

"Why not?"

"You have to make a snow angel."

"Why?"

"You're already here. Why not?"

Tony sighed. "Fine." He moved his arms and legs, creating a Stark-sized snow angel. He could hear Pepper's musical laugh as she did the same. "Happy?"

"Very."

"Can we get warm now?"

"Please. The cold is seeping into my clothes." Pepper said through chattering teeth. "I think- I think I left my coat inside."

Tony stood up, brushing snow off of himself as best as he could. He was freezing. His clothes were wet, his hair was wet, and there was snow in places he didn't know he had. "You okay?"

Pepper touched her ankle lightly and felt pain, but didn't want to tell Tony. "Yeah. I'm fine." She stood up and wobbled for a minute before she fell back into the snow angel. "I hurt my ankle."

"Here." Tony offered his hand and pulled her up. "There we go." He let her use him as a crutch so he could guide her back inside. They reached the safety of the warm cabin quickly. Pepper slipped off her shoe as she sat on the hearth of the fireplace, examining her ankle.

"It doesn't look too bad," Tony said. "You should be fine in the morning."

"Thank you," Pepper said sheepishly. "I'm sorry I called you an ass butt."

"I've been called worse," Stark replied, shooting her a charming smile. "Don't worry about it."

"Can you bring me some dry clothes?"

"All right." he obliged, picking the pajamas she wanted from her suitcase. He ducked into the bathroom to change his own as she insisted so she could have her privacy. "Done?"

"Almost." Pepper answered. "All right, come on out."

He had never seen her in pajamas before. She seemed younger, more vulnerable. The hurt ankle and sweet smile didn't help.

"Come sit with me?" she asked. "It's warm over here. You look cold."

He was cold, as much as he hated to admit it. He had gotten cold in his bones, and it was going to take a while to warm up. The fire would accelerate the process, that was for sure. Reluctantly, he eased himself to the floor next to the hearth. Pepper slid off and moved next to him, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

"Nice, isn't it?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Tony agreed. "It really is."

The two were silent, staring at the fire as it sang them to sleep. The light pops and hisses caused by the glowing orange flames made the shadows dance alluringly, pulling Tony and Pepper into a deep, hypnotic sleep. Pepper laid her head on Tony's shoulder, grateful she wasn't alone. He couldn't help but loop his arm around her, thinking the same. Sleep pulled them in, and the pair began to feel drowsy.

"You know," Pepper whispered, hardly awake. "I used to think your heart was made of iron, but you're not as big a jerk as you pretend to be."

"Hmm?" he asked, already half asleep. "I'm a man made of iron?"

"No." she murmured, leaning into him as sleep took her. She nuzzled her head against his skin affectionately, the alcohol taking the last of its tolls. "No, you're not. Maybe. . ." she yawned, "Maybe one day, you could be, but only if you were good. No more ego trips." The corners of her mouth pulled back in a smile as she curled up on the floor, warm and content.

Tony laid to rest beside her, not protesting when she snuggled up against her. "A man made of iron… it would suit me," he said as he rolled against her out of habit, locking am arm around her waist. It was because she was warm, he told himself. Yes, the fire was warm, but she was warm too, like a heated blanket. That was all it was, Tony decided. She was his heated blanket, nothing more. "Pepper?"

But, the beautiful blonde was asleep, a happy and serene look on her features. Her deep, even breathing soon lured him to sleep as well, sung into sleep by the heat of the fire and the light, delicate sighs of the snow falling on two precious snow angels just outside.


End file.
